TRANSPORTATION
Riders Cloé Sosa and Owen Ocon, had a great time riding the shuttle for
the first time and learning about autonomous vehicle technology. They‘ve
made it a point to become regular riders and support TIM.
said. “After they experience that first ride, most people are
hooked.”
Enter a young couple, excited to ride TIM for the second
time in just a 24-hour period. Cloé Sosa and Owen Ocon were
having a casual date-night when they saw the shuttle after
dinner and approached.
“Honestly, we both thought it was completely driverless
and that sort of freaked us out until the attendant spoke with
us. He was so friendly,” Sosa said. “We asked a thousand
questions because we were concerned about safety, but also
very excited and interested to ride something like this.”
MONITORED ALL THE TIME
Both Sosa and Ocon were surprised to learn that the
vehicles are constantly monitored by engineers at the Beep
Command Center in Orlando. Not only that, but the command
center can communicate with passengers and attendant
or override the vehicle’s system if necessary. These
added safety features ensure that riders are kept safe and can
enjoy a smooth ride, always.
“We must have drowned the attendant with questions,”
Ocon said. “We know it takes 2-4 hours to fully charge; if it
rains, the attendant does take over to drive manually; and
there are so many sensors that it stops quickly, even if something
like a small bird were to fly by.”
One of the more unique features about the shuttle is its
ability to learn and react to its environment. Eventually, the
goal is to have the shuttle communicate with the stoplights
in order to free an attendant from having to manually drive it
through intersections.
“Something like that could take a little while as far as en- >>
18 Port St. Lucie Magazine
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